George Felpel House
Encyclopedia
The George Felpel House is located on NY 9H
in Claverack
, New York, United States. It is a stone Colonial Revival
and Dutch Colonial Revival house built in the 1920s.
Its stones are the remnants of Claverack College
, which existed on the property from 1779 to 1902. Local architect Henry Mouls designed it in Colonial revival style, with some aspects of genuine Colonial architecture from the region. In 1997 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
on the east side of Route 9H just south of the Reformed Dutch Church of Claverack
. It is set back from the road, on the top of a low ruse, at the end of the north fork of an unpaved Y-shaped driveway. At the other fork is a garage, the other contributing resource
to the Register listing. There are many mature trees around the lot, providing shade and screening. The rear slopes down to a pond that was once part of the college campus. The surrounding neighborhood has other older larger houses on large lots.
The building itself is a two-story, three-bay
structure topped by an asphalt-shingled gambrel roof. It is sided in rough-dressed local stone, except for asbestos
shingles in the gable ends. A porte cochère projects from the south entrance, and on the east (rear) is another gambrel-roofed wing. A screened porch is on the north end.
At the center of the west (front) facade
is the entrance portico
. Its pediment
ed roof, two stories high, is supported by two Doric
columns. An overscaled broken pediment on brackets
shelters the main entrance. A triple window is above the main entrance on the second story.
The main entrance is a Dutch door
with a glass transom
. It leads into a large central hall with a prominent staircase. Its bannister and newel
s reflect the Arts and Crafts
style
; all the other woodwork
in the house is Colonial Revival.
To the north of the central hall is a large living room. Its fireplace has a wooden Federal style mantel
flanked by French doors which lead to the porch. The other side of the house has a dining room and front room with similar windows to the living room. The kitchen wing to the south has original cabinetry. The upstairs rooms are planned similarly to their downstairs counterparts.
Outside, the garage has a hipped roof
and clapboard
siding
. It has been extended to the east to accomododate longer vehicles. There is also a modern shed, and a modern wellhouse-styled structure covering a cistern
used by the college in the rear lawn. Some of the original drain tiles from the diversionary channel have been found in the nearby soil.
, also known as Washington Seminary and Hudson River Institute, was founded by Reformed Church pastor John Gabriel Gebhard during the Revolutionary War
. It was located on the property (and an adjacent, similarly-sized parcel) until its closure in 1902. During its existence, it educated Martin van Buren
, Margaret Sanger
and Stephen Crane
. The buildings were razed shortly after it was closed.
Some of the stones they were built of remained, and when George Felpel, a successful farmer from nearby Ghent
, bought half of the former campus, he wanted to use them. He hired Gloversville
architect Henry Moul, who had recently moved there from Hudson
, near Claverack, to design a stone house in the newly popular Colonial Revival
mode.
Moul's design was extremely sensitive to local architectural traditions from the Colonial era. It had many features typical of Colonial Revival buildings, such as the colonnade, pediment, ornamented entry and central-hall plan. But it also uses some distinctly regional touches, such as the triple-run interior stairway. Common in many early Dutch
houses in the Hudson Valley
, they have rarely been preserved
. On the outside he used the gambrel roof, an English feature later copied by the Dutch, and stoep benches flanking the entrance, similar to those seen on old engravings of streets in Albany
.
The building has remained a residence ever since. It has not been significantly altered by any other owner, save the addition of the mock wellhouse.
New York State Route 9H
New York State Route 9H is a state highway located within Columbia County, New York, United States. It runs from US 9, NY 82, and NY 23 at its southern end in Bell Pond to its northern end in Valatie, also at US 9....
in Claverack
Claverack-Red Mills, New York
Claverack-Red Mills is a census-designated place in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 913 at the 2010 census....
, New York, United States. It is a stone Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
and Dutch Colonial Revival house built in the 1920s.
Its stones are the remnants of Claverack College
Claverack College
Claverack College, also known as Washington Seminary and Hudson River Institute, was a coeducational boarding school in Claverack, New York, United States. It was in operation from 1779 until 1902.-History:...
, which existed on the property from 1779 to 1902. Local architect Henry Mouls designed it in Colonial revival style, with some aspects of genuine Colonial architecture from the region. In 1997 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Property
The house is on an 11 acres (4.5 ha) lotLot (real estate)
In real estate, a lot or plot is a tract or parcel of land owned or meant to be owned by some owner. A lot is essentially considered a parcel of real property in some countries or immovable property in other countries...
on the east side of Route 9H just south of the Reformed Dutch Church of Claverack
Reformed Dutch Church of Claverack
The Reformed Dutch Church of Claverack is located on New York State Route 9H at the north end of the hamlet of Claverack, New York, United States. It is a brick church built in the mid-18th century and renovated and expanded twice in the 19th, reaching its present form in 1879. The congregation was...
. It is set back from the road, on the top of a low ruse, at the end of the north fork of an unpaved Y-shaped driveway. At the other fork is a garage, the other contributing resource
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
to the Register listing. There are many mature trees around the lot, providing shade and screening. The rear slopes down to a pond that was once part of the college campus. The surrounding neighborhood has other older larger houses on large lots.
The building itself is a two-story, three-bay
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
structure topped by an asphalt-shingled gambrel roof. It is sided in rough-dressed local stone, except for asbestos
Asbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
shingles in the gable ends. A porte cochère projects from the south entrance, and on the east (rear) is another gambrel-roofed wing. A screened porch is on the north end.
At the center of the west (front) facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
is the entrance portico
Portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
. Its pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
ed roof, two stories high, is supported by two Doric
Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...
columns. An overscaled broken pediment on brackets
Bracket (architecture)
A bracket is an architectural member made of wood, stone, or metal that overhangs a wall to support or carry weight. It may also support a statue, the spring of an arch, a beam, or a shelf. Brackets are often in the form of scrolls, and can be carved, cast, or molded. They can be entirely...
shelters the main entrance. A triple window is above the main entrance on the second story.
The main entrance is a Dutch door
Dutch door
A Dutch door , or stable door , or half door , is a door divided horizontally in such a fashion that the bottom half may remain shut while the top half opens...
with a glass transom
Transom (architectural)
In architecture, a transom is the term given to a transverse beam or bar in a frame, or to the crosspiece separating a door or the like from a window or fanlight above it. Transom is also the customary U.S. word used for a transom light, the window over this crosspiece...
. It leads into a large central hall with a prominent staircase. Its bannister and newel
Newel
A newel, also called a central pole, is an upright post that supports the handrail of a stair banister. In stairs having straight flights it is the principal post at the foot of the staircase, but it can also be used for the intermediate posts on landings and at the top of a staircase...
s reflect the Arts and Crafts
Arts and Crafts movement
Arts and Crafts was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910 , continuing its influence until the 1930s...
style
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
; all the other woodwork
Woodworking
Woodworking is the process of building, making or carving something using wood.-History:Along with stone, mud, and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked by early humans. Microwear analysis of the Mousterian stone tools used by the Neanderthals show that many were used to work wood...
in the house is Colonial Revival.
To the north of the central hall is a large living room. Its fireplace has a wooden Federal style mantel
Fireplace mantel
Fireplace mantel or mantelpiece, also known as a chimneypiece, originated in medieval times as a hood that projected over a grate to catch the smoke. The term has evolved to include the decorative framework around the fireplace, and can include elaborate designs extending to the ceiling...
flanked by French doors which lead to the porch. The other side of the house has a dining room and front room with similar windows to the living room. The kitchen wing to the south has original cabinetry. The upstairs rooms are planned similarly to their downstairs counterparts.
Outside, the garage has a hipped roof
Hip roof
A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
and clapboard
Clapboard (architecture)
Clapboard, also known as bevel siding or lap siding or weather-board , is a board used typically for exterior horizontal siding that has one edge thicker than the other and where the board above laps over the one below...
siding
Siding
Siding is the outer covering or cladding of a house meant to shed water and protect from the effects of weather. On a building that uses siding, it may act as a key element in the aesthetic beauty of the structure and directly influence its property value....
. It has been extended to the east to accomododate longer vehicles. There is also a modern shed, and a modern wellhouse-styled structure covering a cistern
Cistern
A cistern is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by their waterproof linings...
used by the college in the rear lawn. Some of the original drain tiles from the diversionary channel have been found in the nearby soil.
History
Claverack CollegeClaverack College
Claverack College, also known as Washington Seminary and Hudson River Institute, was a coeducational boarding school in Claverack, New York, United States. It was in operation from 1779 until 1902.-History:...
, also known as Washington Seminary and Hudson River Institute, was founded by Reformed Church pastor John Gabriel Gebhard during the Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. It was located on the property (and an adjacent, similarly-sized parcel) until its closure in 1902. During its existence, it educated Martin van Buren
Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States . Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, under Andrew Jackson ....
, Margaret Sanger
Margaret Sanger
Margaret Higgins Sanger was an American sex educator, nurse, and birth control activist. Sanger coined the term birth control, opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, and established Planned Parenthood...
and Stephen Crane
Stephen Crane
Stephen Crane was an American novelist, short story writer, poet and journalist. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism and Impressionism...
. The buildings were razed shortly after it was closed.
Some of the stones they were built of remained, and when George Felpel, a successful farmer from nearby Ghent
Ghent, New York
Ghent is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States, with a ZIP code of 12075. The population was 5,276 at the 2000 census. 2004 estimates put the population at 5,316.The Town of Ghent is centrally located in the county...
, bought half of the former campus, he wanted to use them. He hired Gloversville
Gloversville, New York
Gloversville is a city in Fulton County, New York, that was once the hub of America's glovemaking industry with over two hundred manufacturers in Gloversville and Johnstown. In 2000, Gloversville had a population of 15,413. Ten years later, the population had increased to 15,665- History :The...
architect Henry Moul, who had recently moved there from Hudson
Hudson, New York
Hudson is a city located along the west border of Columbia County, New York, United States. The city is named after the adjacent Hudson River and ultimately after the explorer Henry Hudson.Hudson is the county seat of Columbia County...
, near Claverack, to design a stone house in the newly popular Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
mode.
Moul's design was extremely sensitive to local architectural traditions from the Colonial era. It had many features typical of Colonial Revival buildings, such as the colonnade, pediment, ornamented entry and central-hall plan. But it also uses some distinctly regional touches, such as the triple-run interior stairway. Common in many early Dutch
Dutch colonization of the Americas
Dutch trading posts and plantations in the Americas precede the much wider known colonization activities of the Dutch in Asia. Whereas the first Dutch fort in Asia was built in 1600 , the first forts and settlements on the Essequibo river in Guyana and on the Amazon date from the 1590s...
houses in the Hudson Valley
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in New York State, United States, from northern Westchester County northward to the cities of Albany and Troy.-History:...
, they have rarely been preserved
Historic preservation
Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...
. On the outside he used the gambrel roof, an English feature later copied by the Dutch, and stoep benches flanking the entrance, similar to those seen on old engravings of streets in Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
.
The building has remained a residence ever since. It has not been significantly altered by any other owner, save the addition of the mock wellhouse.
See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Columbia County, New York